


Shouyou.exe Has Stopped Working

by battle_goats



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, Soulmate AU, technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 09:43:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10357563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/battle_goats/pseuds/battle_goats
Summary: The thoughts of Kuroo's soulmate had always echoed distantly in his mind.  The distance between them great enough that he could really only hear them when they were excited.  Which was a lot of the time.  But it isn't until Nekoma travels to Miyagi to play against Karasuno that those quiet thoughts finally come into clarity.





	

Kuroo Tetsurou went seventeen years without hearing more than an occasional soft, muffled sound of excitement from his soulmate. As a child, he had been secretly disappointed that Kenma wasn't his soulmate. But there was nothing to be done about that. So for years and years, he dreamed of what sort of person his soulmate was. Whoever they were, they were an excitable sort. The strong, loud thoughts that managed to cross the distance between them were faint to him, but given that even regular thoughts couldn't make the trip gave him an idea of where they were.

His soulmate was easily excited, and likely lived somewhere in northern Japan. Whoever they were, Kuroo couldn't wait to meet them.

Nekoma high school left Tokyo and traveled north to Miyagi Prefecture. The whole way on the train, his soulmate got a little bit louder. It was an odd experience. They crossed into Miyagi and it was like walking through a wall. While still not loud, he could hear a lot more of his soulmate's thoughts. Most of them consisted of volleyball, to Kuroo's surprise.

Kuro couldn't fight the smile on his face. That his soulmate also played volleyball was unexpected, but no less pleasing to know.

“What's that look on your face?” Kenma asked him. He didn't look up from his phone when he said it.

“He plays volleyball,” Kuroo said.

“Who?”

“My soulmate. We're closer to him now.”

Kenma just hummed. He very infrequently spoke of his soulmate, whoever they were. All Kuroo knew was that they were out there in the world, beyond Japan's shores. He couldn't fathom that kind of distance. Kenma said once, when he was eleven, they'd been close enough for him to hear little whispers of thought. But it hadn't lasted.

The idea of his soulmate being so far away, the chances of never finding them were astronomical. At least with a shared home country as small as Japan, he had a chance. And now, he was in the same prefecture as them. He couldn't help but wonder what their first meeting would be like.

 

They would be playing against Karasuno in a practice match the next day and Kenma was missing. They'd gotten separated, and they were far from home, and anything familiar. Worse, his phone was dead. Kuroo ran off to look for him after leaving Yaku and Kai in charge. He hadn't even thought about borrowing a phone from a teammate and just calling Kenma.

Kenma wouldn't talk to anyone to find his way back on his own. His anxiety would shoot that option down the second he'd think of it, so Kuroo knew he'd have to find him on his own. Luckily, being friends for years meant that Kuroo knew that rather than move, Kenma would plonk down on the nearest semi-comfortable seat he could find that would be out of the way of moving vehicles and wait. Kuroo thought back to when he remembered last seeing Kenma, and he realized they'd passed through a residential area earlier. That was the most likely place he'd find Kenma.

Kuroo jogged down the street, so focused on finding his best friend that he didn't immediately notice that his soulmate's voice was getting louder and louder in his head. It didn't dawn on him until he caught the mention of Kenma.

He seems really shy. Is he lost? I think his hair is cool.

Kuroo turned a corner and suddenly he could hear every single thought running through the head of the short red-haired teen. The first thought that ran through Kuroo's mind was, oh no he's adorable.

That head of hair popped up, and bounced with the boy's movements. He turned to look at Kuroo.

He's really handsome.

Kuroo blushed when he heard the thought. He noticed Kenma watching them both. He hadn't been prepared for this. He'd known his soulmate had been close, but he wasn't ready. He was in his club jacket. His hair was awful, and he had been having a minor freak out looking for Kenma. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

The sound of laughter knocked him out of his thoughts. The boy with the bright hair was laughing. Probably laughing at him. This had to be the worst circumstances possible for meeting his soulmate.

Kenma stood up and stood next to Kuroo.

“Thanks for finding me, Kuro,” he said. Kuroo nodded, but he was too busy staring at his soulmate. He was so short. Smaller than Kenma even. Kenma poked him in the cheek to get his attention.

“Oh, uh, let's go, Kenma.”

Kuroo managed to pull his gaze away from the other boy.

“See you around, Shouyou,” Kenma called back as they walked away. As they turned the corner, they heard a voice call out and the boy answer.

“Shouyou?” Kuroo asked.

“He came up to talk to me while I was waiting,” Kenma said. “He's your soulmate, isn't he?”

“Yeah. Can't wait to see him tomorrow.”

Kenma just hummed as they went on their way. Shouyou's voice grew a little more faint as they walked away. But he remained in the back of his mind, a near never ceasing chatter. In fact, he only seemed to stop once he was asleep. It was the cutest thing. Kuroo couldn't wait to meet Shouyou again.

 

The next day, they were lined up outside the gym they'd rented for the day's practice match. Kuroo stood at one end of the line, while Kenma at the other. Directly in front of Kenma was Shouyou, with a look of complete shock on his face. Kuroo grinned, he couldn't wait to play. Shouyou could jump. It was incredible to see and Kuroo was absolutely stunned by it. Kuroo was looking forward to getting to know him properly.

When the practice games were over and it was time for the teams to part ways, Kuroo sidled up to where Kenma and Shouyou were exchanging phone numbers.

“How about me, Shorty-pie,” Kuroo said. Shouyou looked up at him and blushed. God he was cute. Shouyou's blush got darker. They exchanged phone numbers while Kenma was briefly accosted by Taketora. Kuroo smiled at Shouyou in what he hoped was a reassuring way.

“Kuroo! Let's go!” Coach Nekomata called. The rest of the team was already gathered up and ready to go. Kuroo quickly looked at Shouyou and grinned.

“See you around,” he said as he walked away with a wink. Shouyou's face was a luminous red, and his thoughts, which usually would be echoing in Kuroo's mind had completely stalled out. All he'd done was wink, low-level flirting. Barely flirting and Shouyou was still standing there in complete silence.

“Uh-uh-bye! Kuroo-san!” Shouyou managed to call back after a moment. His face was bright red and his blush had spread to his ears and down his neck. Kuroo couldn't believe he'd gotten so lucky as to have such a cute boy for a soulmate. He was really looking forward to getting to know Shouyou too.

 

 


End file.
